Prince Escalus Flashcards
- Breaking up street brawl (A1S1)
“Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace, / Profaners of this neighbour-stainèd steel—”
• What: Condemns both families for disturbing civil peace
• How:
• Tricolon → escalating accusations
• Alliteration (“stainèd steel”) = poetic disgust
• Religious lexis (“profaners”) → turns violence into blasphemy
• Collective address → condemns both sides equally
• Why: Frames feud as public sin, not private quarrel → sets tone of law above legacy
• Themes: conflict, individuals vs society, honour, social divide
- Issuing warning after first fight (A1S1)
“If ever you disturb our streets again, / Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.”
• What: Enforces law with threat of execution
• How:
• Conditional sentence → justice with clear consequences
• Iambic rhythm = formal, authoritative tone
• **“Forfeit of the peace” → oxymoron → peace secured through death
• Foreshadowing → irony: Romeo does kill again
• Why: Law set in place → adds dramatic irony as audience knows law will be broken
• Themes: conflict, fate, individuals vs society, honour
- Establishing neutrality (A1S1)
“Three civil brawls… have thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets.”
• What: Describes how constant fighting disrupts civic order
• How:
• Anaphora of “three” / “thrice” → builds rhythm, tension
• “Civil brawls” = oxymoron → disorder under civilisation
• Formal structure → authority presented as measured
• Alliteration (“disturbed…streets”) = urgency through soft sounds
• Why: Highlights collective damage → conflict affects all of Verona
• Themes: conflict, individuals vs society, generational divide, social divide
- Criticising blind loyalty to feud (A1S1)
“You men, you beasts!”
• What: Dehumanises citizens for their savage behaviour
• How:
• Zoomorphism → strips away rationality
• Juxtaposition → “men” vs “beasts” = betrayal of civilised identity
• Exclamative tone = righteous anger
• Short clause = impact + rhythm
• Why: Reinforces how feud destroys identity → violence reduces humans to animals
• Themes: conflict, honour, individuals vs society, fate
- After Mercutio and Tybalt’s deaths (A3S1)
“And for that offence / Immediately we do exile him hence.”
• What: Banishes Romeo after Tybalt’s death
• How:
• Royal plural “we” → authority as collective force
• Euphemistic “exile” masks trauma → Romeo’s social death
• **Caesura after “offence” = judicial finality
• Alliteration of “exile…hence” = sense of swift removal
• Why: Law upheld, but emotionally conflicted → Prince loses neutrality
• Themes: fate, individuals vs society, love vs hate, honour
- Critiquing feud’s ripple effect (A3S1)
“Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.”
• What: Argues leniency only perpetuates death
• How:
• Paradox → mercy = murder
• Alliteration (“murders…pardoning”) = cold logic
• Ironic reflection → system punishes to maintain peace
• Moral dilemma = mercy becomes injustice
• Why: Shows ethical complexity of leadership → no clean solutions
• Themes: honour, individuals vs society, fate, justice
- Explaining punishment to citizens (A3S1)
“Bear hence this body and attend our will.”
• What: Orders Mercutio’s body to be removed
• How:
• Impersonal reference (“this body”) = dehumanising
• Imperative tone = restores order after chaos
• **Contrast between emotional event + formal response
• **Lack of name → symbolic of lost identity through violence
• Why: Law detaches from emotion → emphasises tragedy of losing individual meaning
• Themes: death, conflict, individuals vs society, honour
- Speaking of grief after Juliet’s death (A5S3)
“See what a scourge is laid upon your hate.”
• What: Blames the feud for the tragic losses
• How:
• **Metaphor of “scourge” → punishment from above
• **Biblical tone = feud seen as sin punished by divine
• **Collective “your” → shifts blame to both families
• **Past tense “laid” → irreversible damage
• Why: Highlights futility of vengeance → love crushed by legacy of hate
• Themes: love vs hate, fate, generational divide, conflict
- Blaming families (A5S3)
“That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love.”
• What: Irony – love is used to punish hatred
• How:
• **Irony of “kill…with love” = emotional oxymoron
• **Personification of heaven → divine justice enacted
• **“Joys” → children reduced to tools of fate
• **Poetic structure → reflects mourning tone
• Why: Final blow → feud punished by highest force through most innocent medium
• Themes: fate, love vs hate, death, individuals vs society
- Moralising after deaths (A5S3)
“All are punished.”
• What: Concludes that no one escapes tragedy
• How:
• Short declarative sentence = stark, unavoidable truth
• **Passive voice → no agency left, just consequences
• **Universal tone → guilt shared across all
• **Biblical finality = echoes divine judgement
• Why: Reinforces tragic scope → even authority feels helpless
• Themes: fate, individuals vs society, justice, generational divide
- Commanding closure (A5S3)
“Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while, / Till we can clear these ambiguities.”
• What: Demands silence to allow for truth and justice
• How:
• Metaphor of sealing mouths → suppress chaos
• **“Ambiguities” → indirect reference to unclear blame
• **Symbolism → truth needs space to emerge
• **Tone = composed, controlled, reflective
• Why: Order only possible through stillness and truth-seeking → justice must follow chaos
• Themes: individuals vs society, justice, fate, appearance vs reality
- Final lines of the play (A5S3)
“Some shall be pardoned and some punished.”
• What: Decides consequences will follow, unevenly
• How:
• Chiasmus structure = mirror of play’s tragic balance
• **Alliteration (“pardoned…punished”) = legal rhythm
• **Deliberate ambiguity → no clear heroes/villains
• **Philosophical tone → tragedy rooted in human flaw
• Why: Ends play with moral reckoning → law restores balance, but too late
• Themes: justice, fate, individuals vs society, death
